Western Poetry: The Tall Man, In Honor of John Wayne: By G.C. Stevens

 

John Wayne, public domain photo 

Copyright (c) 2025

               By G.C. Stevens

Memories  of The Tall Man

You rode in on the stagecoach against a dusty brown sky.

Your presence, tall, lean, with clear intent

A Kentuckian born in Iowa, clad in buckskin, a cowboy through and through

The dark sands of a hostile Island, told us the story, one of many we knew

Flying Leathernecks and Flying Tigers, lit up your sky

Another gunfight to settle, another trail to ride

You stood in the doorway, the light of honor surrounded your frame

Well mounted splashing across the Rio Grande, you came

Apache's on the bluff, miles of desert and monument valley below.

With True Grit in your heart, that only an American would know.